1,720,962 research outputs found
Will Robots Too Be in the Image of God?:Artificial Consciousness and Imago Dei in Westworld
Get PDFThe HBO series Westworld smartly plays with explicit and implicit timeless questions regarding human nature and human distinctiveness: What does it mean to be human? Is there anything special about us? Could other entities, namely Artificial Intelligence (AI), ever be considered equal, or even superior, to us? In this chapter we explore the challenges posed by the emergence of truly intelligent robots-as some of the Hosts in Westworld seem to be-to Christian theological anthropology in its core claim that humans are special because they are created in the image of God (imago Dei). To do this, we first assess the current understanding of human uniqueness in science, philosophy, and theology, with a focus on the various theological interpretations of imago Dei. We then look at the notion of strong AI and sketch its implications for theological anthropology. Further, the focus moves on Westworld in an attempt to understand what are the precise characteristics of the type of AI depicted in the television series. Do the Hosts qualify as strong AI? Is their consciousness a relevant topic for theological debate? A careful dig underneath the Westworld construction of consciousness will reveal a surprising theological twist. Equipped with these analyses, we will finally approach some of the most fundamental and fascinating theological questions raised by Westworld: can we still speak of humans being in the image of God if AI becomes conscious? Would robots too be in the image of God? Could the Hosts too be religious
Hartman, Tova. Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2007.
No full textCrises of leadership in the post-destruction apocalypses 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch
No full textThis project examines the implications of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch in understanding Jewish leadership in the period following the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E. Through a literary analysis of each apocalypse, I argue that the ways in which Ezra and Baruch are portrayed as leaders, their interactions with the inscribed communities, and the function of the texts suggest that both texts have specific guidelines about the type of leader the intended audience should follow. 4 Ezra establishes scriptural interpretation as the dominant attribute in the leader it promotes, as well as a leader who will encourage expectations of the impending end times, while 2 Baruch anticipates that the eschaton is nearly here and awaits the leadership of the messiah, while encouraging its audience to remain non-militaristic. Both texts are intended to reach a broad and non-sectarian audience. I conclude that these different portrayals of the type of leader to be looked for by the community follows a larger crises of leadership found in other texts and material evidence from around the same period. This analysis of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch offers not just a description of what types of leadership options were available after the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E.; it further provides evidence that in Judaea in the period following the destruction of the temple, there were competing ideals of leadership. The instability of authority figures posed problems to which Jewish communities felt compelled to respond in texts such as 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch.Ce projet explore les implications de 2 Esdras et 2 Baruch dans le contexte de la direction de la communauté juive dans la période suivante la destruction du Second Temple à 70 A.D. Par l’entremise d’une analyse littéraire, je demontre que la façon dont Esdras et Baruch sont présentés comme étant des dirigeants, leur interaction avec la communauté et la fonction des textes suggèrent que les deux textes contiennent des précisions concernant le genre d’autorité que l’audience ciblée devrait suivre.Dans 2 Esdras, on voit que le rôle principal du dirigeant c’est l’interpretation des Saint-Écritures et d’encourager l’attente de la fin des temps tandis que 2 Baruch prévoit que l’eschaton est imminent et attend l’arrivée du Messie, tout en encourageant son audience à demeurer non-militarisé. Les deux textes visent un large public. Je conclus ces deux portraits contradictoires mettent en relief la crise du leadership que l’on trouve dans d’autres textes et matériel de la même periode. Cette analyse de 2 Esdras et 2 Baruch fournit non seulement une description des différents styles de leadership dans la communauté dans la période suivant la description du Temple; je démontre que pendant cette période, il y avait des modèles du leadership en concurrence et la communauté juive se sentait obligée de l’adresser dans des textes tels que 2 Esdras et 2 Baruch
Doris B. Gold, Editor. Prudence Wright Holmes, Compiler. Voices of Thinking Jewish Women. New York: Biblio Press, 2003.
No full textA Note on the Context of the Phrase “Women are Temperamentally Lightheaded” in BT Kiddushin 80b
No full textWinston-Macauley, Marnie “Yiddishe Mamas:” The Truth about the Jewish Mother. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2007.
No full textTheology and Westworld
No full textIn the first two seasons of the HBO series Westworld, human guests pay exorbitant fees to spend time among cybernetic Hosts—partially sentient AI robots—and live out often violent fantasies. In Theology and Westworld, scholars from a range of disciplines within religious studies examine the profound questions that arise when the narrative of Westworld interacts with the study of religion. From transhumanism and personhood to morality and divinity, this book contributes to, confounds, and challenges ideas that are found in the study of religion and philosophy. Taken together, the chapters further our understanding of what it means to live in a world where the hard questions of human existence are explored through the medium of popular culture
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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